Friday, 5 September 2014

September 5

Working With Wire

Back on August 8, I posted a photo of some copper wire weaving. It got set aside for a bit while I was busy with yard work but I finally got a fair amount done and thought I would share the basic process today. Okay, I also need a reason to avoid more yard work!

Here are three pieces of the woven copper wire. All started out exactly the same. The one in the foreground is how it looks after weaving a length of five loops-through-loops. It's pretty bulky.

The next one in line, I pulled through the hardwood draw plate three times — and finished it as a bracelet.

The one at the back has been pulled five times. As a result it is much thinner -- and about 50% longer.

The Process

To the right, the chain as it was being pulled through the first hole (only a touch smaller than chain diameter). You can clearly see the interlocking loops in this photo. The Big Guy drilled a set of ever-smaller holes in this piece of hardwood for me. Always nice to have help!

Final Photo

The two longer pieces are now the same diameter and length. I've no idea what, if anything, I will do with them but it is always fun to learn a new technique. I do think I might make a silver bracelet this way one day.